NIA attaches properties of man who smuggled drugs via Attari border

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has attached two properties of a notorious heroin smuggler in Delhi and Muzzafarnagar in connection with a probe related to smuggling of Afghan heroin via Attari border in Amritsar.

Razi Haider Zaidi, 41, is a resident of Jamia Nagar in Delhi. He was arrested in August last year.

His immovable properties, attached on Tuesday, include a residential plot measuring 121.35 square metres in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, which Zaidi had purchased in his own name for ₹4,00,000. The other property is a residential two storied building at Okhla Vihar, Jamia Nagar, Delhi, purchased for ₹24,50,000 in the name of his wife.

“Both the properties were acquired by the accused Razi Haider Zaidi from the sale proceeds of heroin,” the NIA said in a statement on Wednesday.

A charge sheet was already filed against Zaidi in December 2022.

The probe relates to seizure of a heroin consignment of 102.784 kg by the Customs department on April 24 and 26, 2022.

“The narcotics, which had reached ICP (integrated check post) Attari on April 22, 2022, were found concealed in a consignment of licorice roots (mulethi). NIA investigations revealed that the accused Razi Haider Zaidi was the receiver of this consignment of licorice roots in which heroin was concealed,” the agency said.

The probe revealed that Zaidi was in touch with an accused Shahid Ahmed, who is based in Dubai, and on the latter’s directions, around 103kg heroin concealed in the consignment of licorice roots were sent by Afghan heroin smuggler Nazir Ahmed Qani, a resident of Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan, and it was supposed to be delivered to Zaidi who had handed over ₹11 lakh in cash to another accused as advance payment of the said consignment.

“Further investigations revealed that Shahid Ahmed had directed Zaidi to collect and deliver heroin consignments from various places in India from time to time who had delivered them to the different associates of Shahid Ahmed. Further, Zaidi had also collected cash around ₹2.5 crores (approximately) from various states of India as sale proceeds of heroin. From this, he had taken his share and had channelized some of the drug proceeds into the bank account of Shahid Ahmed. He handed over the rest as cash to Shahid’s brother Azeem Ahmed and other associates of Shahid Ahmed,” the NIA statement said.

Prior to the consignment of heroin recovered in the instant case, in February 2022, accused Zaidi, along with accused Shahid Ahmed and accused Nazir Ahmad Qani, smuggled other consignments of heroin concealed in licorice roots imported from Afghanistan.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had unearthed 50kg of heroin from him and his associates then.

“It has come on record that accused Razi Haider Zaidi is a notorious drug smuggler and supplier and in February 2022, he had imported 640 cans of chemicals through Iran for processing heroin at his rented godown in Muzaffarnagar, UP with the assistance of Afghan nationals sent by the Afghan based accused Shahid Ahmed. The said narcotics were later seized by NCB, New Delhi in a joint operation with ant-terrorist squad (ATS) Gujarat,” NIA said.

The agency further said that in November 2021, on the instructions of accused Shahid Ahmed, Zaidi and two of his associates – Avtar Singh and Mohammad Imran – had gone to Ahmedabad twice to collect narcotic drugs, which they brought to Delhi and Zaidi supplied them to other associates of accused Shahid Ahmed.

“Apart from the above-mentioned instances of drugs smuggling in which Zaidi was arrested by different law enforcement agencies, he had successfully smuggled heroin and collected money derived from its sales from various places of Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat etc,” NIA said.